Fantagraphics Blog

This 2003 drawing of Daffy Duck by Peter Bagge hit the internet a couple days ago thanks to Again With the Comics and has been making the rounds… Can you imagine (no pun intended) a Bagge written-and-drawn Looney Tunes? That sounds like just about the greatest thing ever. Hey WB!

I don't happen across R. Kikuo Johnson's work online too often so I was happy to learn via Douglas Wolk that Kikuo contributed illustrations for Douglas's article on the iPad's impact on the comics industry at Wired. Go for the art, stay for the analysis.

Join us this Saturday, June 18 at 6:00 PM as two of the country’s most gifted young cartoonists debut their recent publications at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. Paul Hornschemeier, from Chicago, presents Life with Mr. Dangerous and Seattle’s own Eroyn Franklin premieres the highly anticipated Detained.   Paul Hornschemeier’s latest book, Life with Mr. Dangerous, was serialized in Fantagraphics Books Mome anthology before being collected by Random House/Villard. It follows the saga of a newly single woman in her mid-20s stuck in an unfulfilling job as she struggles to find meaning and order in her life. The story is insightful…

Willie & Joe: Back Home by Bill Mauldin; edited by Todd DePastino 288-page black & white 8" x 10" hardcover • $29.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-351-4 Ships in: July 2011 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now In the summer of 1945, a great tide of battered soldiers began flowing back to the united States from around the globe. Though victorious, these exhausted men were nevertheless too grief-stricken over the loss of comrades, too guilt-ridden that they had survived, and too numbed by trauma to share in the country’s euphoria. Most never saw a ticker-tape parade, or stole a Times Square kiss. All they…

If you've been wondering what Portable Grindhouse editor Jacques Boyreau has been up to, we'll soon be swinging into production on his next book project, Sexy Time (stay tuned for sexy details), but in the meantime he's been working on a film project called Color of Hell, and here's the brand new trash-tastic teaser trailer. I wouldn't be surprised to see Fritzi show up in this movie!

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "…[J]ust as Woodring’s wordless walkabouts are voyages of discovery for his anthropomorphic protagonists, so they should be for each of us. Wonders wait around every corner, so I’ll leave you to wonder what wonders they’ll be. What I can promise you [in Congress of the Animals] is the same, exquisite level of craftsmanship you’ll have become accustomed to." – Stephen L. Holland, Page 54 • Review: "…[Celluloid is] a spectacularly lush, surreal and expressionistic affair which engages the mind as well as refreshing the parts which other beers fail to reach…. Gorgeous cover,…

We all knew this was coming! Drew Friedman's front-page take on Weinergate for The New York Observer. Hit Drew's blog to see the full front page and the original without the type.

Willie & Joe: The WWII Years (Softcover Ed.) by Bill Mauldin; edited by Todd DePastino 704-page black & white/color 8" x 10" softcover • $39.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-439-9 Ships in: July 2011 (subject to change) — Pre-Order Now During WW II, the closest most Americans ever came to combat was through the cartoons of Bill Mauldin, the most beloved enlisted man in the U.S. Army. This new paperback edition of the 2008 two-volume, deluxe hardcover set brings together Mauldin’s complete works from 1940 through the end of the war under one cover. This collection of over 600 cartoons, most never before reprinted,…

Today's Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "Congress of the Animals is a beautifully illustrated modern fable, which manages to say more without words, than most graphic novels can with hundreds of words. The tale rewards repeat readings, with each successive exposure to the story revealing new and interesting details that were not at first apparent. Woodring has really outdone himself here, and has created the finest work of his career. This is a strong contender for graphic novel of the year, if not the decade!" – Edward Kaye, Hypergeek • Plug: "…Jim Woodring has created a universe that is…

If you just can't wait until 2016 for the next collected installment of Josh Simmons's insane 50-year page-a-month epic Jessica Farm (or were just wondering whether he was keeping up with it — of course he is!), he's just put together a 40-page minicomic with pages spanning January 2008 through April 2011. You can order it for $8 postpaid via the Paypal link on his blog.